New Jersey Community Solar Advocates Hold Earth Day Community Solar Rooftop Tour 

The group aims for the event to help advance the State to
100% clean energy by 2035 and grow clean energy jobs

Avenel, NJ – A group of community solar advocates today celebrated Earth Week by live-streaming a tour of a community solar facility on the rooftop of a commercial warehouse. The event featured speeches from community solar subscribers and clean energy advocates, including Southward Environmental Alliance, Vote Solar, and Environment NJ.

The 1.1 megawatt (DC) Year 2 community solar project was installed by Solar Landscape on top of a warehouse owned by RPM Group. The project was approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in October 2021 and is the second community solar project hosted by RPM. The two projects, which generate 4.3 MW (DC) of affordable renewable energy for the grid, will power 700 nearby households, most of which are low- to moderate-income (LMI) families. They will save subscribers over $150,000 per year off their home energy bills. The rapid turnaround from project approval to energization makes community solar one of New Jersey’s most shovel-ready clean energy programs.

Community solar allows utility customers to subscribe to a project and reap the environmental and bill-savings benefits of solar, regardless of wealth or housing type. Community solar expands the benefits of clean energy –  from lower energy bills, to family-sustaining local jobs and workforce development, to increased resilience against climate change – in hundreds of communities across New Jersey, with an emphasis on serving the state’s most vulnerable communities. The group believes that equitable and accessible solar is critical to addressing  the climate crisis and realizing a more just society, especially within environmental justice communities that have historically carried the highest energy burdens and suffered the worst impacts of climate and energy injustice.

New Jersey’s community solar program will become permanent this year, helping to reshape its legacy energy system to serve people instead of profits. The group is looking forward to celebrating that milestone by elevating the importance of equitable clean energy, and the role that community solar plays in fighting climate change and creating new jobs in the solar sector.

The public can view the tour and speeches through a Facebook Livestream. High-res photos from the event accessed here; all photos and video were taken by Christian Fiore. Aerial photos and drone video of the RPM community solar projects are available here; photos should be credited to Solar Landscape.

Supporting organizations, individuals, and elected officials commented:

“Rooftop community solar projects, like the one that I had the pleasure of touring today in Avenel, demonstrate New Jersey’s commitment to energy equity and the green economy,” said Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez (D-19). “I am glad that Solar Landscape has taken the lead in supporting the community solar program which yields savings for residents and has the potential to create hundreds of good paying jobs. Energy partnerships like these ensure that to the greatest extent possible all residents can benefit from solar, and I am proud to support this program and a greener, cleaner, and healthier New Jersey.”

“Community solar is able to provide low-income families and renters a way to save money on their electric bills. Not only does community solar help New Jersey meet its clean energy goals, but it puts people to work and helps improve the air we breathe,” said Kim Gaddy, Founder, South Ward Environmental Alliance and Environmental Justice Director, Clean Water Action. “However, we must do more to ensure community participation and engagement in all aspects of the clean energy transition, and BPU’s community solar straw proposal is a good step to expanding access to the benefits of community solar to those that are historically underserved and marginalized.”

“The potential of solar power to power our homes and businesses has been historically constrained by the angle of your roof – or whether you even had ownership of your roof. The promise of community solar is to democratize solar and to be able to expand clean, renewable energy to every community across New Jersey,” said Doug O’Malley, Director of Environment New Jersey. “NJBPU’s community solar straw proposal will expand access to solar to more people and more communities that thought solar was out of reach – and that’s a win for our lungs, our air and our climate.”

“Community solar gives me the power to protect the Earth and reduce my family’s carbon footprint,” said Matilde Montalvo, a community solar subscriber who lives in Hoboken. “By powering our home with renewable energy generated right in our community, I know we’re helping fight climate change in a real way. As a community solar subscriber, every day feels like Earth Day.”

“RPM Group prides itself on our long-standing commitment to sustainability and ESG goals, particularly solar. Community solar allowed us to go from using solar – powering our headquarters with renewable energy since 2017 – to sharing it with nearby residents,” said Thomas Connery, CEO, RPM Group. “The community solar program empowers RPM to be a good corporate citizen, by lowering energy costs and creating new jobs, and also gives everyone a way to participate in the fight against climate change.”

“The view of our clean energy future is clear from the rooftops of commercial real estate leaders like RPM Group. It’s easy to see how community solar can be the solution to eliminating pollution that causes climate change, equitably lowering our energy costs, and creating family-sustaining jobs in the green energy economy,” said Shaun Keegan, CEO and co-founder, Solar Landscape.

“Solar jobs are booming in New Jersey thanks to community solar,” said Tony Staynings, Business Community Liaison, Edison Job Corps. “We are training our students to become part of the green energy workforce of the future and build projects like the one we are touring today.”

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